Influence of Parent Education and Occupation in Enhancing Learning in Child Learning Centers

Parents play a pivotal role in the cognitive development of children in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers. This is because ECDs lay a basic foundation to a child’s effort in acquisition of knowledge for use in school and future life. However, due to differences in family set ups among parents, especially in the rural areas, the role of the parent in enhancing cognitive development of the child is hampered. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate the influence of a parent’s education and occupation on the learning process of a child. The study was located in Chavakali Sub-County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Parents of ECD going children formed the target population. Simple random sampling was used to select 140 parents who provided data on explaining the role of parents in the cognitive development of children. Two instruments were used to collect data. These were a structured questionnaire for literate parents and interview schedule for parents who could not read and write. Collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Frequencies and percentages were obtained. Further correlations were made between parent characteristics and the effect on learning using Pearson Correlation. Findings from this study revealed parental characteristics have a great contribution to the cognitive development of the child. Given different characteristics, the study recommended formation and strengthening of parent-teacher associations in order for parents to share experiences in cognitive development of their children.